Investigation: The Thirteenth Nebula Cup Disaster
by timothy.porter.33
Summary: This story explores the disaster at the Nebula Cup race on Calmwind, an event that causes Hakuoh Jogakuin to be banned from the race for five years. A second year middle-schoolgirl from a wealthy family, two seniors with a dark secret, and a tomboyish first year middle-schoolgirl at the center of it all. And interweave through it all, an evil man tugs at the Puppets' strings...
1. Chapter 1: Advocates

The school's public address system crackled to life in the chilly afternoon air. "Lynn Lambretta, first year middle school division – please report to the Student Discipline Room. Immediately!"

Lynn looked up from her studies, and noticed all the eyes trained on her in the study hall. "…what'd you do, Lynn?" One of her classmates asked, seeming to be as astonished as Lynn felt. "Not a clue, Shari", Lynn replied, her dark brown hair dashing about her face as she shook her head. She gathered her books and bag, and rose from her chair. Her multi-colored leggings that her parents had given her were bright and cheery, compared to her rather dour middle school uniform. But the regulations allowed such variances, so long as no trousers were worn. "At least one tenth of the student's limb shall be visible below the hem of the skirt." The Academy's administrators wanted their students to be girly girls.

Lynn was one of the few tomboys at Hakuoh Jogakuin, and despite being a mere 12-year-old, she had a rather dashing and rakish flair at which even some of the older girls seemed to swoon. But there was only one girl that Lynn wished would notice her. Just one.

She walked confidently into the Student Discipline Room, not having any idea why she had been summoned. As she entered, she saw the principal, seated and with a rather dour look on her face. At one of the guest seats in front of her desk was her home room teacher, who also regarded her rather disdainfully. In the other guest seat was a man in a military uniform that she did not recognize. And in three of the four chairs arranged off to the side – the chairs reserved for students being disciplined, were two seniors with whom she was acquainted….and….her.

"Please have a seat," the principal said in deadpan. She motioned to the only empty chair. The chair next to…Her. "I believe you already know one another, so we'll dispense with introductions," the principal continued. "Ladies, this is Colonel Brendan Mays of the Stellar Military. He's assigned to their Data Integrity Division. Colonel?"

The colonel stood up and regarded each of the girls, scanning each for any hint of guilt in their young, fresh faces. "Good afternoon ladies," he began, his tone firm and his face absent of any hint of emotion. "My purpose here is to get to the bottom of the Nebula Cup disaster, and my investigation has brought me, in one way or another, to the four of you."

Lynn shifted in her chair, and noticed that the two seniors had squirmed a bit as well, but the regal, tall blonde girl seated next to her didn't even blink her emerald eyes. Instead, she stood up and started to speak, but the colonel raised his hand to halt her from speaking.

"Before any one of you utters a word, I must advise you of your rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, as well as those under the Constitution of the Stellar Alliance and the Articles of Justice of the Galactic Empire. Since they are basically the same, at least as far as this situation is concerned, I'll summarize: You are not required to, nor may you be compelled to speak in your own defense or to make any statement that could result in your self-incrimination. You have the right to legal representation. If you do speak, anything that you say can and will be used in your prosecution. Now, that being said, did you have something you wanted to say, Miss Doolittle?"

Lynn looked up at her. Jenny Doolittle was stunningly beautiful, tall for her age, statuesque, and utterly indomitable. Lynn had had a crush on her since she came to this academy, but could never bring herself to speak to her.

"I want to know why the four of us are here," Jenny said calmly. "What could anything that happened last week on Calmwind have to do with any of us?"

"At this point, Miss Doolittle, you and your two upperclassmen are simply persons of interest…possibly witnesses. The only one among you who may be indicted is you, Miss Lambretta," he said, glaring at Lynn. "I'm not here to interrogate any of you today. A team of my best forensic investigators will arrive tomorrow morning, and I'm sure that they'll want to have a few hours of your time."

He turned to the principal. "Miss Holland, I want all of the academy's outbound FTL lines shut down, if they haven't been already. My team'll be digging through the comm logs tomorrow, after they've finished questioning the girls. There may be more questioning after they've gone through the comm logs."

Jenny looked to her right at the two seniors, and then to her left at Lynn. Despite Lynn's best poker face, she could sense apprehension in the young girl. She then sat back down, as the principal stood to speak.

"Girls, I've already notified your parents…well all but yours, Lynn. I haven't been able to reach them, but I've left several messages. If you need legal representation, the power of attorney that your parents granted to the academy allows us to represent you, if you wish. Amy, Bethany, your respective parents are retaining local representation for you. Jenny, your uncle is sending the company lawyer to represent you, and he made it clear that you are not to speak to anyone until the company attorney has spoken with you. That specifically includes not speaking to any of the other girls."

"Begging your pardon ma'am, but they're my friends and members of the yacht club….how'm I supposed to not talk to them…?"

The principal slammed her hand down on her desk and cut off Jenny's sentence. "You WILL obey my instructions and those of your uncle, Miss Doolittle! The yacht club is **shut down** until this investigation is concluded…our dinghies have been recovered from their crash sites and are being impounded at the relay station….as far as I'm concerned, there is **nothing** that any of you need to say to each other that can't wait until this investigation is over! You are all dismissed!"

The two seniors sprung out of their chairs as if they had been shocked, and made for the door. Jenny stood, watched them retreat, and turned slightly to look at Lynn, who seemed to be in shock. Lynn looked up at Jenny in bewilderment, not believing what was happening. Jenny gave her a friendly nod, and then headed for the door. She desperately wanted to offer her a word of encouragement, but she knew the consequences of disobeying her uncle.

Lynn looked at the three adults as she rose from her chair. They were busy talking and didn't even look at her. She quietly shut the door as she left, and headed for her dorm room.

Jenny was furious. She watched as the two seniors disappeared down the corridor, heading to the dorm building, most likely, she thought to herself. The way they squirmed, the way that they launched out of the room like scalded dogs….it felt seriously wrong. But she dared not confront them. She was a mere second year middle school student, granted membership to the yacht club simply due to her family's connections. And then there was the look on Lynn's face…the look of a deer caught in the headlights…and it troubled her deeply. She had noticed the young tomboy in the first year class, but never seemed able to corner her to speak to her. She found her interesting…even attractive. Her boyish demeanor, her short, wavy hair, her bright blue eyes, and her roguish cockiness all created a mystique that Jenny wholeheartedly wanted to explore. But whenever she approached, the younger girl would seem to disappear in the opposite direction, as if she suddenly remembered she needed to be somewhere else. Maybe she just doesn't like me, Jenny thought to herself. There were a lot of girls at the academy that had initially perceived her as a rich brat, but had befriended her once they realized that she was just a normal, somewhat shy schoolgirl like the rest of them. She hoped that someday, perhaps Lynn would warm up to her. But that day wasn't going to be today. She headed for the transport kiosk, and caught a ride to her bungalow, a few kilometers away.

"Hurry up, Amy," Bethany grumbled. "I'm going as fast as I can, Beth," Amy replied with annoyance. "I thought we were gonna get something to eat…"

Bethany cut her off. "We need to get back to the dorm and wait for the lawyers to contact us. God, I hope our little man-girl doesn't rat us out…"

"She won't," Amy responded, trying to reassure herself more than anything else. "We're her friends, right?" She stopped suddenly, and in a low voice said,"…say….you don't think our room is bugged, do you….?"

Bethany also stopped, and turned to face Amy. "Jesus Christ monkey balls….you may be right…" She looked around, noting all the surveillance devices on light poles, kiosks, pathway lights - in fact – in just about every technological device around. She grabbed Amy's hand, and pulled her along, putting her index finger over her own lips to shush her. They hurriedly scrambled to a small clearing, near the lake on the far side of the athletic field. Bethany looked around, and could see no sign of surveillance devices.

"I think we can talk here," Bethany whispered. "Then why are we whispering?" Amy whispered back.

"Because somehow whatever we did, now the military's involved! And they're talking about indicting someone! And that someone could be us if Lynn rats us out!"

"But all we did was change the course," Amy protested, still whispering. "Why would the military care about that?"

"…I dunno…maybe one of the people who got hurt was someone important…or maybe it's 'cause we hijacked an interstellar FTL comm line…"

"Do you think Jenny knows what we did?" Amy asked softly. "I doubt it," Bethany said, shaking her head. "And we both better make sure she doesn't find out. The ones who gave us the advance course data will come after **us** if we bust the deal."

At that moment, Bethany's phone buzzed. "Hello?" she responded. "Yes I'm on campus…okay…I'll be right there…" She ended the call, and told Amy, "The lawyers are at the dorm. Let's go talk to them." Amy nodded, but looked worried. "Do we tell the advocates the whole story, then? ...all the stuff that we did…?" "Of course not!" Bethany huffed. She turned and could see the anxiety in Amy's eyes. She gently took Amy's face in her hands, and gently kissed her forehead. "Let me do the talking, okay, sweetie? We'll just tell them as much as they need to know. No one can tie us to any of it. Not the hacking, not the dinghy, not any of it. Trust me." She lifted Amy's chin with her index finger and planted a kiss on her lips. Amy buried her face in Bethany's neck and sighed. Bethany glanced up at the sky for a fleeting moment, musing about having gotten even with the little rich upstart for bumping her out of the competition. "Come on," she urged Amy, and the two headed off to the dormitory, holding hands.

Lynn wandered over to the middle school dorm, went upstairs to her room, and sat down heavily on her bed. Her roommate was off-world, so she would be alone for a few days. It was a miserable time to be alone, and she could feel the tightness in her chest. So many questions. What was this military colonel talking about? To what disaster was he referring? Why was she the one who would be indicted? Hell, what were the charges? Why was Miss Holland so intense and angry? Why couldn't she talk to Amy and Beth? She glanced up at the wall on her side of the dorm room, where all her various snapshots of Jenny Doolittle were pinned. She loved snapping pictures of her, or sharing photos and holos with members of the yacht club who would snap pictures of her in the sim, or even in flight. She picked up her print of her favorite photo of Jenny…her school ID photo that she had hacked from the school's computer. In the photo, Jenny was wearing a white dress, and her signature clover earrings and necklace. Her wavy blond hair flowed around her head and neck, and her gleaming emerald eyes exuded both kindness and aristocracy all at once. Lynn had never felt worthy to approach her, let alone speak to her. Despite all the girls in this school who had crushes on her, some of whom even confessed to her, Lynn only wanted to be with one girl, and that was Jenny. But what would happen now? What if she really was indicted? Or convicted? Or expelled? She lay back on the bed, holding the picture above her face, gazing at Jenny's gentle face. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes, and spilling down her cheeks, blurring the shining image in front of her. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Jenny arrived at her bungalow, and could see that the front door was already open. She approached hesitantly, but from inside a young woman's voice called out to her. "Jennifer, is that you? Get your ass in here! We've got a lot of ground to cover!"

Jenny walked in, and regarded the young, petite Asian woman who had so rudely addressed her. Dressed in a business suit with a scandalously short slit skirt stood Keiko Takeda, one of the company's lawyers. She mused to herself, probably one of Uncle Robert's mistresses as well.

"Come sit down!" Keiko commanded. Jenny sauntered over casually, willfully annoying the young woman. As attractive as she was, Jenny wouldn't want even the sweetest part of her. "What's this all about, anyway?" Jenny inquired as she sat down, placing a throw pillow between her butt and Keiko's.

Keiko observed the separation maneuver and regarded her with disdain. "This'll actually go a lot faster and more efficiently if you let me ask the questions and you just answer them. I don't want to taint your responses with information that you don't have, nor do you need to have. Got it?"

"…got it…" Jenny muttered. She really disliked Keiko from a young age, but she also knew that the pretty little mouthpiece had her family's best interests at heart.

"You attended the 13th Nebula Cup last week on Calmwind, right?" Takeda asked.

"I did." Jenny was going to be as uncooperative as possible, without being outright insubordinate.

"Did you compete?" Takeda continued, appearing not to notice or care about Jenny's obstinacy.

"Yes." Jenny deadpanned. Wasn't much of a competition. She had made it through the first two of the checkpoints, but caught a severe gust and lost one of her control surfaces. With only her starboard canarderon attached, she had desperately fought the controls and spiraled from about a thousand meters in a long, terrifying descent until she crashed into a peat bog. She had been lucky…dozens of others hadn't.

"When did you receive your course map?" Takeda queried.

"Just before the starting gun." It was a strange question. No one gets a copy of the course until a few seconds before the mag-lock releases. That was one of the cardinal rules of yacht racing.

"…so…you didn't have any advance knowledge of the course…?"

Jenny sat up straight. "What…?"

"Yes or No?" Takeda demanded.

"…no…" Jenny muttered softly, stunned at the notion of anyone cheating.

"I sure hope your answers to the Board of Inquiry will be more resolute," Keiko sneered.

"Tell me about that first year…Lambretta….do you know her?"

"Not as well as I'd like…" Jenny mused, a smile curving her mouth.

"Careful, little girl," Keiko warned. "Don't forget your responsibilities to the family. What do you know about her? And why do you have pictures of her on your wall?

Jenny glowered at her. "You went through my room? And what're you trying to imply? I'm barely thirteen, and she's only twelve. She's cute and I just want to be friends with her."  
"…cute…" Keiko coughed. "Must be some new definition of the word, "cute" that I missed."

"I don't care what you think of her," Jenny scowled. "I like her."

"Fine," Keiko said softly, and then went right back to her interrogation. "Are you aware of any members of your yacht club engaging in data piracy?"

"No." Jenny said resolutely. "We're the best. We don't need to cheat."

"What about your "cute" little first year?"

"She's not even a member of the yacht club. Why would she do such a thing, **IF** she even **could** do such a thing?"

"Well, someone did. And it's serious." Keiko reached out and took Jenny's hand in hers. For Jenny, it felt really awkward. "Listen to me carefully, Jenny," Keiko said, a very fervent look in her eyes. "You've never liked me…I know that…it's probably my fault….I'm a self-righteous, ambitious, pushy little bitch and I always have been. I grew up with five brothers and they're all doctors, lawyers or politicians…My father serves on the Galactic Empire's High Court. My whole life, I've always had to prove myself. But this situation could have far-reaching consequences for Hugh and Doolittle. My job here is to protect you and the company. Please help me to do my job." Her hand holding Jenny's was trembling, and her eyes were intense.

"Tomorrow, you and I will be sitting in front of some of the best-trained interrogators of the Stellar Military. If I don't like the question that they ask, I'll squeeze your hand…like this…and I'll object to the question. Don't say a word until I stop squeezing. And if they ask a question that you don't want to answer, you squeeze my hand…harder…yes, just like that. And we'll talk it over outside before you answer. Okay?"

"Just what the hell is going on?" Jenny finally demanded, still holding her hand. "This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. The race hits a bit of bad weather, people wipe out, and suddenly there's a military tribunal? Seriously, what the hell?"

"I cannot – no, I WILL not risk tainting your testimony tomorrow. There is just too much at stake. What you don't know can't hurt us, but if your answers suggest to them that you know something, they will pick you apart and tear you to pieces. Along with Hugh and Doolittle." Keiko smiled at her gently. "We'll get through this. Now let's eat, and get some sleep. I just jumped here all the way from Orion, and I'm beat." Jenny nodded, regarding the young woman with more respect than before. She was still a bitch, but she was a decent bitch, and her heart was in the right place.


	2. Chapter 2: Defense Strategies

A knock at their dorm room door woke Amy and Beth from their brief nap. They were snuggled up on the bed, more or less still in uniform. "I'll see who it is," said Amy, zipping her skirt and buttoning up her blouse.

Beth sat up, her uniform equally disheveled. What had started out as a brief afternoon nap had turned into a passionate making out session, during which both of them had fallen asleep in each other's arms. She looked out the window, and saw the sun setting amidst the belt of stars that adorned the Tau system. "Beth, get dressed…they're here!" Amy called out. Beth pulled her uniform back together, leaving her necktie hanging loosely around her neck, and her top few buttons undone. She stepped out of the bedroom into the living room, where two women in business suits were waiting with Amy. "Bethany Devereaux?" one of the women chimed. "Yes," Beth replied, rubbing her eyes. "I'm Ariana Ortega, and this is Marissa Villanueva. We're here to represent the two of you," announced the taller woman. The shorter of the two, with long, blond hair spoke. "You can call me Marissa. We have a lot to discuss, but first –" She took out a small electronic device and aimed it slowly around the room. It beeped several times during her sweep. She turned to Ariana. "It's not safe to talk here. Seven bugs, all military grade."

"Fix up your uniforms, girls," Ariana intoned. "There's a little café nearby. We can talk there."

A short while later, Marissa pulled over to the left in front of an antique-looking building, a wooden shingle hanging in front. The Lamp House. The four got out and went inside. Inside, a bevy of young women dressed in maid uniforms gathered shoulder-to-shoulder at the reception kiosk, bowed deeply, and welcomed them. "I'd like my normal booth," Ariana said flatly to the young girl who approached them. "Of course, ma'am," she smiled, and led them to a booth far in the rear of the establishment. "What's the special today, Cathy?" asked Marissa sweetly. The girl tossed her hair back and announced, as if reading from a script, "We have a lovely, limited edition Orange Pekoe Tea from the grand continent on Sea of the Forest Star, and we have a very rich dark roasted coffee grown in the mountains of old Earth, on the Southern surviving continent of the Americas."

"Old Earth, huh?" Ariana grunted. "Sounds expensive…"

"It is," Cathy responded, as perky as ever. "But it's worth the price just to inhale the aroma."

"Okay," Ariana said finally. "Four Earth coffees and four chocolate parfaits."

"Very good, ma'am," Cathy beamed. "I'll be right back!"

A few minutes later, Cathy and another girl arrived, one carrying a tray with a large, polished silver carafe of coffee and 4 glass mugs with silver frames and handles. The other girl carried a tray with four of the Lamp House's famous chocolate parfaits. They set them down and served each of the women a parfait and a mug, pouring the first round of coffee. The rich, heady aroma wafted around the table, getting everyone's attention. "Is there anything else you ladies need?" Cathy asked with her usual perkiness. Ariana handed her a wad of cash. "We'd like to be undisturbed. Just tell us when it's closing time. Otherwise, leave us be. Keep the change."

Cathy looked down at the wad in her hand with wide eyes. "Yes, Ma'am!" she glowed. "Please come again!" She and the other girl retreated quickly back to the front.

"So," Ariana began. "Tell us everything you know about the Nebula Cup Disaster. And I do mean everything."

The girls looked at each other, and Beth spoke. "We heard that they hit some bad weather, and there were a lot of wipe-outs -"

"Stop right there, Miss Devereaux," Ariana glared across the table at her. "I don't want to know what you HEARD. I want to know what you KNOW. And I know that you know exactly what happened on Calmwind. Now, start again, and don't try to bullshit me. We can't protect you if you don't trust us. If you don't trust us, just say so, and we will leave, and you two can figure this shit out for yourselves." Ariana started to rise from her chair, as did Marissa.

"…no, please don't go…" Amy whimpered, looking desperately at Beth. "We have to tell them the truth, Beth!" The women settled back into their chairs, gazing expectantly at Beth.

Beth closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh. "…fine..." she said, looking directly into Ariana's eyes. "This is what happened."

Jenny hastily made dinner. As she put the plates on the dining table, Keiko stepped in, her nightwear even more scandalous than her business wear. Jenny certainly knew how to appreciate eye candy, and despite her generally negative feelings toward Keiko, her eyes were having a feast.

"Looks good," commented Keiko, picking up her chopsticks.

"I just cobbled some things together," Jenny said with little enthusiasm, also picking up her chopsticks. They each pressed their hands together in prayer. "Itadakimasu", they said in unison, and began quietly eating.

"…is Lynn going to be able to get an advocate…?" Jenny asked, barely above a whisper.

Keiko looked up from her plate, saw the look in Jenny's eyes, and set down her chopsticks. "Okay, out with it. What is she to you?"

"It's not like that – "Jenny started to protest, but Keiko cut her off. "Bullshit!" Keiko blurted. "Look, you and I are more alike than either of us would ever admit. We both like girls…and we've both been betrothed since we were little children to men that we've barely met….and we'll both probably find them to be intolerable."

Jenny regarded her in silence for a moment. It was true. Keiko had been promised by her parents to marry the eldest son of the eldest son of the Doolittle family, her cousin, Robert junior. And she herself had been promised to the son of a politician. She had only met her betrothed once, and he was a buffoonish, self-centered girly-boy. Even his name, Junigh, sounded like a girl's name. And as for her cousin, he was the exact opposite of his father, an officer in the Stellar Military. Cousin Robert was also a girly-boy, self absorbed, self-centered, egotistical and smug. And those were his good points.

"If you're feeling sorry for me, don't." Keiko intoned, reading the look in Jenny's eyes. "Now, I need an answer. What is she to you? Tell me the truth!"

"…I just….I just don't want anything bad to happen to her…I like her…I don't want to see her get into trouble…"

Keiko took another bite of her food, mulling over Jenny's good nature. "Ninety percent of the attorneys and paralegals here on Sea of the Morningstar are in one way or another indentured to Hugh and Doolittle. It's one of the reasons why we never lose at trial…it's one of the reasons why most litigants settle when they know that we're on the other side of the table. So….whoever represents her…will most likely also be looking out for our interests."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Jenny moped. "Can't you fix it so that she gets someone that could really help her? Someone who could face down those military bullies?"

Keiko mulled some more, as she chewed another bite. It would be a dishonor for her family if she refused to marry Robert, but if the Doolittles fired her, and perhaps cancelled the wedding plans….

"…someone who could face the military, huh?" she chewed. "Ya know? …there might just be someone that I could call…" She leaned across the table, with a rakish grin that made Jenny shiver. "….soooo…..what's in it for me, little kitten?"

Jenny swallowed hard. She felt like the canary looking up at the cat. "If you keep her out of trouble…I'll do anything you want…." She said softly, knowing full well what she might be in store for. Still, she thought, looking across at Keiko's pale yet healthy cleavage, and her curvy, smooth legs tucked underneath her, it might not be all that bad.

"...by the way, there's only one bed here…" Jenny said softly. "Don't fret, sweetie," Keiko laughed. "I'll take the sofa."

"What I meant, was," Jenny continued, a little annoyed, "we both need to get a good rest and be in top form tomorrow, and my bed is a triple large, so you can sleep there with me…just behave."

Keiko regarded her with some respect. She had grown so much, and become so mature since she had last seen her. "I gratefully accept," Keiko said, gently running her fingers through Jenny's soft blond hair. "And rest easy. What I want from you in return for saving your little friend's butt has nothing to do with sex. You're adorable, but you're still just a child." She smiled, as Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. And just a little bit of disappointment.

Lynn heard a knock at her dorm room door. She set down her book and walked to the door. "Who is it?" she called out. "I'm your attorney, little missy" a woman's voice with an odd accent came from the other side. Lynn looked at the clock. It was past curfew, and outsiders were never allowed in the dorms without an escort after curfew. She opened the door, and the woman walked right in, and sat on Lynn's roommate's bed. "Well don't just stand there, lassie" she chided to Lynn. "We have a lot to talk about tonight."

Lynn closed the door, and slowly walked over and sat down on her bed, facing the woman. She seemed to be in her mid sixties, slim and slight in build, with wavy auburn hair and intense green eyes. She opened up her computer, and started tapping away at the keypad. "So, you're twelve years old, your parents are planetary archaeologists, and this is your first year on Sea of the Morningstar…right?"

"…uh…yes…" Lynn answered warily. The woman looked up at her, as if she just realized something. "Sorry," she began, "I've studied your file so thoroughly I feel as if I already know you." She laughed slightly, and then continued, "I'm Maddie, your attorney." She reached across the short table and offered her hand. Lynn took her hand and gave her a firm handshake. "So the school sent you here?" Lynn inquired. "Not exactly," Maddie replied. "I'm doing a favor for a friend. There'll be no cost to you, your parents or the school. Also, I spoke a wee bit to the school's assigned advocate, and I asked her what would happen if the school's interests in this matter were incompatible with yours. She said she would have to discontinue representing you if that came up….so…it's up to you. Do you want me to stay and continue this?"

Lynn thought for a moment. "I'd like to know who's paying my tab…who is this friend who owes you a favor and decided to bestow it on me?

Maddie smiled broadly. "I like you, little missy," she beamed. "You're the spittin' image o'me when I was a lass…all full of yourself…brassy…a wee bit cocky…but sorry….the terms of our agreement are that you either accept me or you don't. My employer insists on being anonymous."

Lynn thought for a few moments more. She knew that her parents were struggling to pay her tuition to this prestigious girls' academy, and that hiring an attorney would strain them further. And she was disheartened by the allegation that the school would throw her under the bus if need be, even though she still had no idea what she had done wrong. And this woman had an air of honesty, and down-to-the-ground kindness. She reminded her of her late grandmother. "All right," Lynn decided. "But I don't even know what this is all about…why am I in trouble? Why do I NEED an attorney?"

Maddie smiled gently. "There, there, now little miss. Let's take it one step at a time, and not get too troubled, eh?" Lynn nodded. "Good, then. Why don't you start by telling me about the Nebula Cup?" "I don't know anything about the Nebula Cup," Lynn offered. "I'm not even in the yacht club…I don't really care much about space ships or space travel…really, I'm kind of sick of it."

"That's right; you traveled with your parents all over until you started this middle school, yes? So your only friends were a pick, a shovel and an ultrasonic imaging scanner?" she asked with a slight laugh.

Lynn didn't find it funny. "Please don't misunderstand," she said. "I love my parents, and I'm deeply grateful for all the sacrifices they've made for me. You're right, this is the first time I've had real friends, and a feeling of permanence. Space travel is tedious and repetitious. Endless inspections, checklists, malfunctions –" she grasped her hair in her hands. "Ugh! I don't even want to think about it…" Maddie came over and sat beside her on the bed, gently putting an arm around Lynn's shoulders. "Don't fret, child," she cooed, and looked up behind them at the pictures on Lynn's wall. "She's pretty…a friend of yours?"

Lynn looked up at them as well. "Just someone that I admire…she's really popular…everyone admires her…"

"Aye," Maddie smiled. "And as they should. Miss Jenny Doolittle. She'd be quite the catch."

"You know her?" Lynn asked, surprised. "Not personally," Maddie replied. "Though I remember meeting her and her father when she was a wee lass."

"I just wanted her to notice me…" Lynn said softly. Maddie regarded her for a moment, searching for the right words. "It's hard, isn't it?" Maddie thought out loud. "You see someone who puts a flutter in your heart, and you dinna know what to do…and not knowing what to do…you just DO something…right?"

"…yeah…" Lynn continued softly, staring at her shoes. "..they said she would notice me if I –" She stopped suddenly and looked up at Maddie. "They?" Maddie inquired. Lynn pulled away from the woman. "You're trying to get me to snitch on someone else, right?" Lynn fumed. Maddie shifted a bit, turned to Lynn and firmly grasped her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes, her accent thickening. "Listen to me. This is no' some silly code of honor in your little girl school, where no one likes a tattle tale. This is the real world, and ye can be crushed like a wee lil' bug." She squeezed Lynn's shoulders hard for a moment, making the girl wince in discomfort. "Let me read you the charges, and the possible outcome, and ye decide if ye want to take one for the team and let whoever put you up to this skate away laughing while you fall on your sword." The grandmotherly demeanor was gone. Maddie's intense gaze drilled into Lynn, filling her with fright and exhilaration all at once. "…I'll tell you everything…" Lynn said quietly.

Robert Doolittle's shuttle hung above the Hugh and Doolittle shipyard's primary dry dock, where the keel of a massive battleship was being laid. She would be the sixth in the Maricot Class, but she would have more firepower and advanced technology than any of her sisters. He watched on the monitors as one of the dock workers welded a metal plate bearing his name and signature to the primary sill of the massive starship. His military career was winding down, and he looked forward to the day when he would command his company's largest warship. "Beware the Jabberwocky," he mused aloud. The pilot looked over at him. "Sir?" the pilot asked, not wanting his superior officer to think he was ignoring him. Doolittle shook his head, a slight smile on his lips. "Nothing, lieutenant," he said. "Just an old poem, from an old, dead world." But, he thought to himself, looking out at the expanse that would one day become his enormous vessel, there will be no frabjous day, nor shouts of Callooh! Callay! **No one** would slay THIS Jabberwocky. His Carrollesque reverie was interrupted by the beeping of the comm system. "Sir," the pilot called out. "You have an incoming transmission from Tau Ceti three."

"I'll take it in the aft compartment," he replied, realizing only at that moment how gay that sounded. "Make it a secure channel." "Yes sir," the pilot replied smartly, routing the call out of the normal comm lines and disengaging the automatic logging protocol. He knew his boss well enough to know that if he wanted a secure line, he didn't want it logged.

"Colonel Mays," Doolittle greeted the man on the video screen, noting from the icon at the bottom right that both sides of the conversation were secure. "Have you found out anything?"

"Not yet, General," Mays replied. "My team has arrived, and they're settling in. We have a pretty good idea who our suspect is, and the school has assured me that they'll hand her over with very little drama. The principal insisted that the school at least give the appearance of acting in her defense. The only snag that I see is that she's just a child."

"How old?" Doolittle queried. "She's a first year middle school student," Mays replied, looking down at her file. "That would make her about twelve."

"That's fine." Doolittle grunted. "We're not looking for an execution, anyway. Just knock her around a bit, and offer a plea deal. Who's her family?"

"They're no one in particular, sir. Planetary archaeologists. None of any prominence. I'm sure they'll roll over easily."

"Good," Doolittle approved, a slight, devious smile creasing his lips. "What about the other matter?"

"No further contact, sir. Whatever they were, they slipped through our frontier headed for Orion. There were three distinct energy signatures, battleship class from the look of them. Some anomalous gravity wave readings were logged as well. We've plotted every possible course along their last known trajectory, but no other sightings have been reported. All of the listening posts along that route have all reported in, so there's been no hostile action that we're aware of."

"Any Empire traffic?" Doolittle definitely didn't want THEM involved.

"Empire comm traffic has been strangely silent, sir," Mays replied. "A few blips here and there, but nothing about – That."

"Very well then," Doolittle said with finality. "I want this done quickly and by the numbers. Hold your hearings, find her guilty, and get her the hell off Tau and away from my niece."

"Yes, sir!" Mays responded, signing off.

Robert Doolittle allowed himself a broad grin. In the dim light of the aft compartment, he almost seemed to have fangs. Soon, he thought to himself. Soon he will be back in control of the company, after a long and glorious military career, and back in control of everything else. Everything was coming together. It was going to be amazing. He looked down at his personal data tablet, and began reviewing a technical letter about a prototype gravity wave propulsion system. He leaned back and stretched. Indeed, things were going to be truly amazing.


	3. Chapter 3: Interviews I

It had rained all night, and there was still a mist hanging in the morning air. Amy, Beth, Lynn and their respective counsel shivered as they gathered at the administration building. Lynn had allowed Maddie to choose her clothing that morning. She felt strange, not wearing her usual long stockings, instead wearing a mid-thigh-high skirt and heels. Maddie even insisted on doing her hair in a girly fashion, and having her wear a little bit of makeup. Maddie had told her, "Ye remind me so much of me when I was a wee lass. But in times like this, the tough little tomboy needs to step aside, and let the little timid lassie within step out and show herself."

She looked up at Maddie, and gestured toward the others. "Why won't they let us talk to each other?"

"To whom are ye referring, lass?" Maddie inquired. Lynn gestured again at her friends. "The principal forbade us girls to talk with each other until the investigation is over."

"We'll see about that," Maddie fumed. "She canna do that."

Nearby, in their well-pressed uniforms, were a dozen or so officers of the Stellar Military. An academy staff member opened the lobby door, and everyone filed in. Colonel Mays ordered his group to divide into four teams of three, and each team beckoned to each of the girls and their representatives to enter four different conference rooms. Amy looked at Beth with consternation. "They're splitting us up?" she whispered, looking at both Beth and their advocates. Ariana placed a hand on Amy's shoulder. "It'll be fine," she reassured. "Marissa will be with you, and I'll be with Beth. Answer the questions, unless we object to them. Don't volunteer any information, and don't express any opinions. We'll get through this."

As Maddie filed in, she nodded to the colonel. "Colonel Mays," she greeted pleasantly, saluting with her folded umbrella. "General MacDougall," Mays nodded and saluted smartly. "What brings you here today?"

"I'm the legal representative for Miss Lambretta," Maddie replied. "You?" Mays sputtered. "But I thought – " He turned to the school staff member with a puzzled look. The staff member indicated toward the principal, who was just coming into the lobby. "Good morning, Colonel," Miss Holland intoned. "Good morning, Miss Holland. Where is the Hakuoh academy representative for Miss Lambretta? There appears to be some sort of confusion."

"There's nae confusion," Maddie retorted. "I offered her me services, and she accepted. Here's her signed retainer agreement."

"She's not old enough to make that decision for herself," Colonel Mays protested. "Hakuoh Academy has a signed, notarized power of attorney from Miss Lambretta's parents. Begging your pardon, General, but you cannot represent her."

"I was actually hoping that would be your ruling, colonel," Maddie began, much to Lynn's surprise. "After all, if she isn't old enough to retain her own counsel, then under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, she's not old enough to stand trial. You can just dismiss the case now, and we'll leave."

Mays scowled. This was not part of the plan. Someone had thrown a wrench into the machinery. He turned to Lynn. "Miss Lambretta, if she hasn't already told you, she and I have served together in the Stellar Military. Having her as your advocate could be a conflict of interest." Lynn listened and then turned to Maddie.

"Brendan, you're so predictable. Data Integrity Division is right where you belong." She smiled sweetly, as his scowl deepened. She turned to Lynn. "He is correct, lassie, we did serve together and I was his commanding officer. But I'm retired, and so there is no conflict as far as I'm concerned. Knowing all of this, it's your choice and yours alone if you still want me to represent ye."

"Well there may be a conflict as far as I'm concerned," Mays snapped back. "You should recuse yourself, General."

"No laddie, that's not how it works, and you bloody well know it," she continued, her patronizing smile even sweeter. "Your perception of conflict doesn't deprive her of her choice of counsel. In accordance with Title twelve, if **you** still feel that there's a conflict, it is **you** who should recuse **your**self. I'll leave it up to you. You're the serving flag officer in this inquiry. Now, where do you want us to meet?"

"Room 204, second floor." Mays fumed. Doolittle was going to be furious. How had their mutual commanding officer found about any of this, and why was she here? After she had retired, he had heard rumors that she became an auditor general for the Galactic Empire, reporting directly to the Queen's top admiral. And now she was sticking her nose into this matter. How much did she know? He wondered to himself. He headed to his transport. He had to contact Doolittle.

"We're going to be late," Jenny snipped, watching with some fascination as Keiko donned a clean business suit, at the same time admiring herself in the mirror with the suit that Keiko brought for her. Her own hemline wasn't quite as scandalous as Keiko's, however.

"Late for what?" Keiko snipped back. "They haven't served you as much as a summons. We're being generous for agreeing to meet with them on a Saturday before the beginning of an exam week. Screw them. We'll get there when we get there."

Jenny looked her up and down. "You're going to wear – THAT? In front of the military?"

"Especially in front of the military," Keiko grinned. "Jenny, you're a very pretty girl from a wealthy family, and doors just open naturally in front of you. I have to work at it, so that means I have to work with the assets that I have." She jutted out one knee while turning the other leg outward, displaying her shapely calves. "Those military dorks can only see a woman when they've got their credit card out, and ninety percent of being an attorney is distraction and misdirection. Trust me."

Jenny smiled to herself, imagining such a thing. She had enjoyed her bath with Keiko that morning, and hadn't realized how much she missed having another girl wash her, and to be able to return that favor. A bond was forming between the two, and it actually felt good. Jenny hoped she would stick around.

The two young women walked out to a waiting car. A young, smartly-dressed man with dark glasses stood ready to open the back door for them. "Good morning ladies," he greeted, smoothing a cowlick of hair at the crown of his wavy brown tresses. No sooner had he smoothed it down, it popped up again. "Morning, Shane," Keiko greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. "This is Jenny Doolittle." "Miss," Shane nodded to her, ushering them into the car. "Everything ready, Shane?" Keiko asked. Without even looking up into the rear view mirror, his response was terse and professional. "Shuttle's prepped and ready whenever you are, Miss. The ship we hired is in orbit and waiting for us. Also, there's a message from your father on the secure link."

"Got it..." Keiko mumbled, pulling up her message. She quickly read the message, and a slight smile creased her lips. The crap was already hitting the fan. Now it was just a matter of time.

The car pulled up in front of the administration building, and Shane opened the door for the women.

"I've got a few more loose ends to tie up," he said to Keiko. "Page me when you're ready to be picked up."

"Thanks, Shane," Keiko winked at him, as she twirled about, hooked her arm into Jenny's and headed for the building as the car departed.

As they walked into the building, they could see the colonel and the principal talking at the reception desk. The colonel looked over at them as they approached, and the principal sneered at Jenny. "Do you know what time it is?" she demanded, looking at Jenny's business suit. "And do you not know the regulations about wearing your uniform?"

Keiko squeezed Jenny's hand, and spoke for her. "First of all, Miss Holland, is it? Today is not a regular school day, so wearing of the uniform is optional, even on school premises. Article seventeen, paragraph three and four, if I'm not mistaken. Furthermore, no time was specified. I believe you said "morning", colonel, and – " she glanced at her watch, showing about ten minutes before noon, "as far as I can tell, it's still morning."

The colonel stepped from behind the desk, and bowed courteously to her. "Lady Takeda", he started, with some requisite toadying. "Your presence honors us. I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Oh?" Keiko feigned surprise, raising an eyebrow. "Was there someone in particular you were expecting? Perhaps Mr. Weinstein?"

"Actually, yes. I was told that Karl was going to be Miss Doolittle's advocate. Did something happen?"

"I don't know what to tell, you, Colonel," Keiko shrugged. "Jenny's father told Karl to stay put, and told me to come here. It was very inconvenient for me. I had plans." Jenny looked back and forth at the two of them, puzzled. They seemed to know each other, and the colonel treated her with such fake reverence. She found it fascinating and infuriating all at once. A commotion upstairs caught all of their attention.

"Listen to me, lieutenant," Maddie's voice carried in a shrill tone. "Until all of you get your act together, we're leaving! Come on, lassie. We're done here!" The two descended the stairs to the first floor, when Maddie noticed Jenny and Keiko. She pulled Lynn along, and went to greet them. Lynn almost seemed to have a look of terror in her eyes.

"Felicitations, Lady Takeda," she curtsied, almost putting one knee to the floor, and motioning to Lynn to do the same. Lynn, puzzled, also curtsied deeply, probably for the first time in her life. "General MacDougall," Keiko greeted. "I'm honored to see you again. Do you know Jenny Doolittle, of the Hugh and Doolittle Company?"

"I do indeed," Mattie gushed. "Hello there, little miss. It's been a long time." Jenny looked at her. She had met her somewhere, to be sure. That accent was unmistakable. "Yes," she finally said. "It's nice to see you again…" As her voice trailed off, her eyes became glued to Lynn. She had never seen Lynn dressed so nicely, with her hair arranged in bangs and pinned back, and a slight hint of makeup. And those legs, she thought to herself. Lynn was stunning. Her heart was pounding. "Ah, I see you've noticed me little lassie here," Maddie indicated Lynn. "This is my client, Lynn Lambretta." Keiko reached out a hand, and Lynn took it and gripped it firmly. "Nice firm grip for a little girl," Keiko teased. "Do you know Jenny?" Lynn and Jenny looked at each other nervously. Lynn had never seen Jenny in a business suit – it made her look a bit mannish. It was as if their personae had been reversed. She was dolled up as a girl, and Jenny was decked out like a boy. Jenny spoke. "We've never met," she said, offering Lynn her hand, "but I'm really happy to finally meet you." Lynn took Jenny's hand in hers, but held it gently, almost reverently. "It's really nice to meet you, too, Miss Doolittle." "Please," Jenny purred. "Call me Jenny." Lynn hesitated. Miss Holland was still there watching them both with an imperious look on her face. "…uh…Jenny…senpai…"

Jenny smiled, shook her head and took both of Lynn's hands in hers. "…no…no honorifics…no pretenses…just Jenny. Please." Lynn nodded nervously, her hands trembling in Jenny's gentle grasp. "Jenny," she said softly, looking up into her beautiful green eyes.

Miss Holland had seen quite enough. "All right ladies, that's all very sweet and adorable, but you are ignoring my instructions and your uncle's orders!" as she glared at Jenny. Maddie turned to her, staring her down. "To which "uncle" are you referring? And exactly what are these "orders?" she demanded. Miss Holland was not to be intimidated. "Robert Doolittle, the chief of Hugh and Doolittle Interstellar Transportation, gave strict orders for me to relay to Miss Doolittle. She is not to have any contact with the other girls, including Miss Lambretta. By having them together, you are subverting his orders AND mine!".

Maddie chuckled, looking knowingly over at Keiko. Keiko just winked back at her. "So General Robert Doolittle, of the Stellar Military, is giving orders to Miss Jenny Doolittle, regarding a matter that is strictly an internal matter for Hugh and Doolittle…right?" Miss Holland's mouth dropped open a bit. "After all, Jenny's tuition is paid by Hugh and Doolittle, which is currently under the control of her father, James Doolittle…seems to me that it would be a huge conflict of interest for a three star general in the stellar military – the same military that purchases equipment, ships and other supplies from Hugh and Doolittle, to have any involvement in the company until his military career is over…" she turned to the colonel, who had been having a hushed conversation with the lieutenant who had been upstairs. He had turned to listen when he heard the general's name mentioned. "Wouldn't ye agree, Colonel Mays?"

"Frankly, General, I find all of your antics disagreeable." Mays retorted. "The girls can talk to each other all they want. I don't care. I want to know why you and Miss Lambretta are refusing to cooperate with my staff!"

"Refusing to cooperate, are we?" she laughed. "Dinna your lieutenant explain my complaint? It was an official complaint, to be properly documented in accordance with stellar law! Now don't tell me he failed to register my complaint with the serving flag officer! I'll bloody have to file another complaint!"

The lieutenant stammered, "Sir, she seems to think that you have to be present during our interview with Miss Lambretta…" "That's a load of crap, General," Mays burst. "I can't be at each interview. I'll be present for the hearings, but that's it."

"Your lieutenant was swearing us in. That makes it a hearing. And a flag officer must be present for any hearing. Do you want me to quote the regulations?"

"It's not a hearing," Mays was getting exasperated. "It's more like a deposition. And in a deposition, you're put under oath." "Ah, that's different!" Mattie exclaimed, and then turned pure deadpan. "My client declines to be deposed. We're done here until we receive a summons to a hearing. Good day!" She waved at Keiko and Jenny, and then ushered Lynn along with her out the door.

Both Jenny and Keiko watched as Lynn walked away with Maddie. "She really is cute," Keiko commented. "She cleans up nicely." Jenny made a "pfft" sound, and turned to Keiko. "I don't care how she looks, or how she's dolled up. She's just beautiful. That's what I see."

Keiko laughed. "Tell her how you feel, not me."

Keiko turned to the colonel and opened her mouth to speak, but Mays cut her off. "Your client is a witness, Lady Takeda. I hope you weren't going to try to skip out as well."

"It was worth a shot," Keiko smiled. "All right, where do you want us to meet?" "Upstairs," Mays replied tersely. "Room 209."


	4. Chapter 4 Interviews II

Jenny and Keiko walked up the stairs, and wandered down the hall to room 209. Inside, smartly dressed in their military uniforms, were two women and a man. All of them stood and bowed as Keiko walked in. "Lady Takeda. Miss Doolittle. Please be seated," the man began. "To my left is Lieutenant Harris, to my right is Lieutenant Marcus. I'm Lieutenant Commander Foster. Let's begin, shall we?"

Keiko pulled out Jenny's chair for her to be seated, and then pulled her chair up close to Jenny's and seated herself. Under the table, Keiko took Jenny's hand in hers and gently squeezed it. Jenny nodded to her that she understood. "This interview is being recorded," Foster continued. He touched a pad on his keypad. A tone sounded. "We're on the record. Please raise your right hands."

After they were sworn, Foster continued. "Miss Doolittle, we've already examined the data from your Flight Data Recorder and your Cockpit Media Recorder. We also examined your preflight checklist. Were there any anomalies with your craft that you didn't enter into the record?"

"No." Jenny replied tersely. Foster turned to Harris, who took up the questioning. "I examined the wreck of your dinghy," Harris began. She laid a crumpled piece of hardware on the table. "Do you recognize this?" Jenny examined it without touching it. "It's an output shaft," Jenny said dryly.

Harris sighed. "In fact, it's the output shaft for your dinghy's port side canarderon. When you did your preflight check, did you notice this?" She pointed to the jagged, broken end of the shaft just below its servo arm.

"It wasn't like that during my preflight check." Jenny retorted, stating it as if it was obvious. Harris turned the component so that its edge pointed at Jenny. "I mean this." She pointed to what appeared to be cutting marks that extended a little more than half way across the shaft's cross section. Jenny flinched. Keiko could feel it. "I didn't see this…" Jenny trailed off, going over her preflight inspection in the hangar on Calmwind. She tried to imagine where this would be visible, but as she could see her dinghy in her mind's eye, she suddenly blurted, "No, there's no way to see this part of the shaft, unless you disassemble the outer cowling and pull the inspection escutcheon off the outer pressure hull…"

Harris smiled. The girl knew her ship. "When was the last time you worked on that part of the dinghy?" "I've only done maintenance on the avionics," Jenny replied. "The seniors usually do the mechanical work, usually with the club advisor overseeing." "Right," Harris looked at the maintenance logs on her screen. "So dinghy tail number VK207, your dinghy, has most of it's inspections signed off by 'B.D.' and 'A.C.' Do you know who they are?" Jenny didn't have to even think about it. "Bethany Devereaux and Amy Cromwell. It was Beth's dinghy until I bumped her out of the qualifying trials…" Jenny suddenly was overcome with the horrible thought that not only had her ship been tampered with, but that someone she considered to be a friend might have done it. Her hand was shaking in Keiko's. Keiko looked at the marks as well. "Those marks look like they've been there a while," she observed. "There's rust and burn marks around them."

Harris was surprised. "You have a good eye, Lady Takeda," she said with admiration. To think that the daughter of a nobleman would even know what she was looking at was impressive enough, but to have a metallurgical opinion, was amazing. "The corrosion and burn marks are superficial. Calmwind's upper atmosphere is highly corrosive, and the burn marks are just from reentry burn. No, this ship was sabotaged. We're here to find out why, and when, and especially, by whom."

Lt. Marcus then spoke. "Yours was the only ship in the competition that broke up in the air, Miss Doolittle. Some of our best pilots were given your situation in the simulator. Seven out of ten of them crashed severely, 4 of them being likely fatal. That was some impressive flying, for a thirteen year old to keep it together at a thousand meters up, and still get down in one piece."

Foster held up a holopad, and from it emerged an image of the race course, superimposed on a grid globe semitransparent image of Calmwind. "Take a look at this." He pushed the holopad across the table, and Jenny, her hands still shaking, picked it up and examined it. "That's the race course for the Nebula Cup race." Foster noted. "It's not," Jenny protested, examining the checkpoints and landmarks. "This is completely wrong. You must have the wrong file." "No," Foster said resolutely. "That was the course that was originally submitted to the Stellar Military for approval, and that's the flight plan that was cleared. That's also the flight plan that was hacked from a Stellar Military database. Now," he tapped a button on his control pad, and the image in Jenny's hands changed, "This is the race course as you flew it. This was created by moving the check points around so that they intersected with the planet's heavy weather face. Recognize it?" "Yes," Jenny said quietly. "This is the course that appeared on my nav console…"

"We traced the FTL comm lines that carried out this act of piracy," Foster turned his screen so that Jenny and Keiko could see. A series of lines traced a path from the FTL transmitter at the relay station, down to the local hub, and to an aerial view of Hakuoh Academy, and then directly to the yacht club's secure comm room. "It's said that if anyone needs anything illegal or on the sly around here, the Hakuoh yacht club is the place to go," Harris chimed in. "As a member of the yacht club, you must know who the hackers are." Keiko squeezed Jenny's hand hard. "Objection," Keiko blurted. "Calls for speculation." Foster leaned across the table at Jenny. "Miss Doolittle, someone dangerously altered the race course and sabotaged YOUR ship! Out of a hundred and forty two entrants, only two pilots finished the race. Someone seriously wanted to harm you! Perhaps even kill you, and make it look like a mishap. Whoever did this is still running around, possibly planning some other way to eliminate you. We don't have **time** for this legal wrangling and nonsense!"

Jenny's whole body was shaking. She wanted to throw up. She looked over at Keiko, her emerald eyes frightened and filling with tears. Keiko rose from her chair, pulling Jenny up with her. "My client and I need a break from this," Keiko said firmly, and before any of the officers could object, ushered her from the room, down the hall and into another empty conference room. She pulled out a small hand scanner and aimed it around. "It's clear, we can talk," she said gently, but Jenny slumped into a chair, put her head in her hands and started sobbing. Keiko pulled up a chair beside her, and gently pulled the teen into her arms. She held her in silence for many minutes, allowing the girl to let it all out. Jenny finally looked up into Keiko's eyes, tears still spilling from her own. "…why…?" she cried. "Why would anyone want to hurt me? …what've I done…?"

Keiko gently caressed Jenny's face, wiping the tears from her eyes and gently running her fingers through Jenny's blond tresses. "Shhh…" Keiko spoke to her gently. "Coming from a wealthy or high-born family sometimes puts one in danger. You wouldn't believe how many times someone has tried to get back at my father by trying to harm me or my brothers. And my mother's death wasn't an accident, as it was reported. She was assassinated by thugs in one of the Orion syndicates, as a warning to my father. I hate to say it, sweetie, but it comes with the territory."


	5. Chapter 5: Men of Honor

It is often said that if one wanted to give the galaxy an enema, Orion is where they would stick the tube. It had not always been this way, but after the war of independence, the Galactic Empire had little tolerance for the criminal element, but the empire also recognized that a certain amount of corruption and villainy was inevitable. Orion became the unofficial place that the Empire would sacrifice, but only up to a point. The syndicates could generally read the intent of the Empire, and would generally stay within the unofficial limits that were established. As was typical in such situations, the syndicates would periodically test those limits, and meet swift and brutal corrective action from their overseers. The Empire was generally benevolent, but not to be trifled with.

Although Orion had representation in the Stellar Alliance, it was almost always through a proxy. Orion was a dangerous place, and a politician who fell into disfavor here would find himself falling out of an airlock, or getting sucked into an intake. Senator Coolph had been Orion's proxy for going on thirty five years. He was smart, streetwise, well-connected and charismatic. People either loved him and worshipped him or hated him and wanted him dead. There was no one on Orion who didn't have some opinion about Senator Theodore Coolph. Coolph came from old money, on old Earth. After North America was destroyed, first by a super volcano in the late 21st century, and then finished off by a mega tsunami that struck its eastern seaboard in the early 22nd century, most of old Earth's political power was wielded elsewhere. The wealthy and well-connected survivors of North America immigrated to Asia, and reestablished their power bases in the eastern cities of Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Bangkok. The criminal elements generally immigrated to old Russia, and were absorbed by the far more powerful and ruthless eastern European mobs. Ultimately, when mankind ventured into the stars, the culture that blossomed would be from the dominant Japanese nation state, which had consolidated much power after the fall of China and the execution of all of its corrupt leaders at the hands of many millions of righteously indignant disenfranchised citizens.

North America and much of Europe had made significant strides in the promotion of equality of all humans, but with the norms of human behavior reestablished in the halls of Japanese government and corporate circles, women once again became relegated to arranged marriages, reduced political involvement, and other, similar old-world norms. Coolph really knew how to enjoy the world as it was. He had a wife and a few mistresses, and soon his son would be the proud master of the daughter of one of the most powerful and influential corporations in the known galaxy. It seemed a pity that his son had little interest in women, preferring to entertain vast platoons of men aboard his private ship, the Glorious Coolph. Still, he thought to himself, if his son chose to only keep Jenny Doolittle as a trophy wife, perhaps he himself would welcome her to his own little harem. One way or another, the family name had to be passed along to an heir, and it made little difference in the big picture if Jenny's offspring would sprout from Junigh's seed….or his own. As he strode confidently through the lobby of his office complex, one of his many obsequious aides rushed up to him. "Senator," she said breathlessly, "there's an urgent call on the FTL channel for you. It's General Doolittle." "Fine," Coolph smiled. Whether it was good news or bad news, it was always the high point of his week to talk to his old school chum. He walked briskly to his office, and activated the comm line. After several transfers and redirects, a familiar face lit up his screen. "Ted," Doolittle greeted. Coolph nodded back. "My aide said it was urgent. I heard that Miss Doolittle crashed her ship in the Nebula Cup. I trust she wasn't 'damaged'" "Nothing like that," Doolittle chuckled. "The impact was bad, but she's still confirmed as a virgin. Don't worry about that."

Doolittle continued, his face turning serious. "There's been a setback to the plan. Someone threw a wrench into the works, and I have a feeling I know who it was, but it can't be helped. MacDougal is involved, so it's only a matter of time before others may take notice." Coolph knew that he meant the Empire. "How can I help get us back on track?" Coolph inquired. Doolittle smiled. He could always count on his old friend, which is why he promised his niece to Coolph's son. "Two things, for now," Doolittle responded. "First, regarding the gift I promised you, we may have to postpone the measures that we discussed." He had to speak vaguely, because he could see from the comm display that the line was not secure at both ends. "Honestly, the little ragamuffin that Jenny has taken a shine to may be useful to us at a later time, and won't even know it. Second, we need to hold off the performance of our three divas for now. They're still not ready for the big show just yet. Find someplace for them to stay and – practice."

Coolph nodded knowingly. The three 'divas' had managed to sneak across the frontier after a Stellar Alliance patrol had been called off its route to respond to the Calmwind disaster. "I know just the place," Coolph replied. "I'm sure the ladies will find it to their liking."

Doolittle and Coolph had always been able to speak cryptically, and yet fully understand each other. "One last thing that occurred to me," Doolittle intimated. "I had really wanted to have them perform for the Stellar Military, but before such an important debut, perhaps we should present them in all their glory to a less – shall we say – disciplined audience…?" He leaned back in his comm seat, and then surged forward for effect. "Pirates!"

Coolph grinned broadly. "…yes…." Coolph pondered. "A perfect audience for our lovely ladies…but have you found anyone capable of handling these fickle vixens?"

"In fact, I have," Doolittle nodded. "And she's perfect. One of the few who finished the race – and nobility, to boot!"

Coolph suspected he knew who Doolittle meant. "Will she take up our cause?"

Doolittle laughed. "I think we can provide the necessary motivation to the disenchanted princess." They shared a laugh, both knowing that their puppets would never realize who was pulling their strings.

"I'll contact you when everything is in place," Doolittle assured him, as they signed off. As he exited the comm pod, a young lieutenant approached him. "Sir, you have a secure communiqué from Saldanas Prime. It's from Lord Takeda…" Staff level officers were often intimidated by communications directly from the Empire's home world, but Doolittle was quite accustomed to them. And in this case, was expecting it. "Thank you, lieutenant," Doolittle replied, and stepped back into the comm pod. He knew that it was Lord Takeda's brat that had betrayed him, probably at the behest of his own younger brother. Keiko was probably hoping to provoke him into canceling her betrothal to his son. He wasn't going to let her off that easily, and he would hold the elder Takeda to his promise, at the risk of sacrificing his honor. Old world Japanese were so predictable and easy to manipulate, he mused to himself. He perused the text of the message, and decided to digest it for a while before answering. It wasn't the answer he had expected. It would take some time and some more bantering back and forth to see exactly how much the Empire and its High Court knew about his plans, if they knew anything at all. He snorted at the audacity and pompousness of the Empire and its high-minded "benevolence." It was an old, dated hierarchy that reeked with the stench of death. And the Stellar Alliance and its military forces were simply stooges that kept the local systems in line with the Empire's grand plan. Soon, though, a new order would emerge. Already, the seeds of dissent were being planted in kingdoms such as Serenity. Soon, with his corporate fleet, and with a new generation of gravity controlled battleships, and his allies throughout the known galaxy, there would be a new order, and the old Imperial guardians of benevolence would be written out of history for good.


	6. Chapter 6: Separations

Amy and Marissa followed the three officers into one of the conference rooms, while Beth and Ariana went into another room with three other officers.

"Please be seated, ladies," one of the men said, and Amy and Marissa sat down across from them. They proceeded with swearing in. "I'm Lieutenant Forrester, to my right is Lt. Fisk, and to my left is Lt. Sirtis. Miss Cromwell, what is your level of comm access?" Amy looked at Marissa, who nodded to her. "I have level two access to local comms, and level four access to FTL's," Amy replied.

"Yes, and I see that your access code was used for a level one protocol on the FTL line in the yacht club's comm panel, two days before the Nebula Cup race. So how did you gain level one access for that message?"

Amy trembled slightly, but Marissa nodded at her to answer. "We obtained an access upgrade through an off-world proxy…I don't know who it was…they had an advance copy of the course, and let us look at it."

"So you cheated," Lt. Sirtis sneered.

"We didn't cheat!" Amy cried. "We thought the course was too easy…we thought it would be boring to everyone…we never gave out the copy of the course to anyone on our team."

"So what DID you do with the information?" Lt. Fisk chimed in.

"We mucked around with the location of the checkpoints, that's all! And then we uploaded it."

"Uploaded it?" Lt. Forrester looked at her with disbelief. "Uploaded it where? Exactly to what destination?"

"Directly to the Nebula Cup server on Calmwind," Amy admitted.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Lt. Sirtis. "The Nebula Cup server is licensed by the Stellar Military. It'd take a whole lot more than a level one FTL access to upload anything to its production database!"

"We sort of hacked into it…" Amy squirmed in her chair. "The ones who gave us the course also gave us some codes to get in via a backdoor…and our friend is really good at hacking into those kinds of vulnerabilities…but we didn't mean any harm!"

Lt. Forrester cleared his throat. "And your friend who hacked in was who? Name!"

"Lynn….Lynn Lambretta…" Amy said softly. "But she's just a first year! She didn't even really know what she was doing, or changing! We told her what to do, and she just did what we told her!"

Marissa chimed in. "My client had no intention of causing anyone any harm. This was akin to a prank, and obviously there were outsiders who wanted to disrupt the Nebula Cup, and they just took advantage of some innocent schoolgirls."

"And you have no idea who these outsiders were?" Forrester pressed.

"None," Amy insisted.

"How did you contact them?" Fisk demanded.

"They sort of contacted us…" Amy squirmed deeper in her seat. "They contacted Beth."

"Any idea why they contacted her in particular?" Forrester knew that Beth's father, Laurent Devereaux, did business within Orion. And most of it was not above board.

"I really don't," Amy responded.

Forrester sighed. "All right, Miss Cromwell, that's enough for now. We're going to be digging very deeply into those comm logs. If there's anything more you want to tell us, now's the time."

Amy shook her head. Marissa stood, and pulled Amy up by the hand. "Gentlemen," she said respectfully, and pulled Amy along with her out the door.

Meanwhile, Beth and Ariana were seated across from three female officers. All of the investigators were cross-feeding their transcripts to each other, so all were able to modify their inquiries as needed.

"Miss Devereaux, is it true that you and Miss Cromwell urged an underclassman, er, ah…Lynn Lambretta, to hack the Nebula Cup database?" Lt. Vargas demanded.

"We told her that the course that we received would be uninteresting, and Lynn was willing to move the check points around. And she was able to hack into the Nebula Cup database and replace the course with the modified one. To Lynn, it seemed like it was just a prank…I'm sure she had no intention of things happening the way they did."

Vargas scowled. "And this? Was this a prank, too?" The woman to the right of Lt. Vargas put up a hologram of the sabotaged output shaft of Jenny's dinghy.

Beth feigned disbelief. "This is one of the control output shafts! Was this on one of **our** dinghies? Did it break after the crash?"

"Miss Devereaux, you signed off on both canarderons on VK207, after you were disqualified for the race. Can you explain these grinding marks?" Vargas seemed to do most of the talking. The other two women just took notes or put up displays.

"My port side canarderon kept binding below center," Beth offered. "I pulled the inspection ring off the outer pressure hull and ground the shaft so that it would move more freely. I didn't think I cut into it that much…maybe the outer pressure pinch seal got distorted when I put the ring back on and it dug into the shaft after launch, but in the atmosphere it moved a lot more freely. The torque curve was back in spec. I don't know what you're trying to imply, but I wanted Jenny to win for our team. It didn't matter that she bumped me! I wanted our team to win!"

Ariana butted in. "The dinghy made seven landings from the relay station to Tau after this maintenance sign off," she noted, looking at the flight logs relative to the maintenance log. "I seriously doubt that this was intentional. Did your team examine the pinch seal?"

Vargas huffed. "The canarderon and everything attached to it, including the seal, was lost in mid air. Probably landed in the lake."

"My client explained, quite reasonably, why these marks were here. I'm sure your engineers must have considered a distorted seal as a possible, perhaps even probable cause of this fatigue. Do we need to beat this dead horse any more, or can we move on?"

Vargas considered for a moment. "Fine," she said at last. "Miss Devereaux, our information indicates that you specifically were contacted, and that you were given the advanced race details…why do you suppose they contacted you?"

Ariana butted in again. "Objection. Calls for speculation."

"Right," Vargas hissed. "Let me rephrase. Your father seems to engage in a lot of business in the Orion sector…the people who contacted you tried to make the comm logs show a link to the Cepheus Dark Bay, but in fact, the signal came directly from an unknown ship, holding station above the Flame Nebula, in Orion. Was it your father who contacted you? Or one of his associates?"

"I told you I have no idea who they were. A lot of people do business in Orion! It's not a crime!"

Ariana moved to shush her, but Beth was piqued. "I'm sick of people looking down on my dad! He's an honest man making an honest living in a place a lot of people are too chicken-shit to go!"

"That's enough!" Ariana pinched Beth's thigh, making her wince with pain. "And that's enough questions about who these outsiders were. My client says she doesn't know, and that's that. Asked and answered. Are we done here?"

"We're done. For now….but make no mistake. We haven't finished scouring the comm logs." Vargas glowered.

Ariana smiled sweetly back at her as she rose to go, pulling Beth with her. "Scour away! Don't miss any spots!"

They walked out and saw Amy and Marissa at the base of the stairs, and promptly joined them. Ariana turned to Colonel Mays. "Colonel, I suggest that you have your men get all the listening devices out of my client's room, before I have them pulled and examined by a Galactic Empire advocacy court. It is a constitutional violation to listen in on anyone who has retained counsel, and we had been retained **before** your crew showed up on Tau."

Mays offered a relenting smile. "Fine, Miss Villanueva. My team will go over and retrieve them, but the timing of your retention relative to the placing of the devices is splitting hairs. We were well within constitutional boundaries."

Ariana glared back at his fake smile. "You have an hour. After that, I take it up with the Galactic Empire's Judge Advocate General. And I kept a few of your little toys for evidence." She and the others strode off, heading for the Lamp House.


	7. Chapter 7: Cherry Blossoms

It had taken the better part of half an hour for Jenny to stop crying and calm down. Keiko simply held her close, gently caressing her hair, and daubing away her tears. Jenny took a deep breath, sitting back in her chair, but still holding Keiko's hands in hers. "I'm okay, now," Jenny said softly.

"We can continue this tomorrow, if you like," Keiko offered. Jenny had been forced to process a lot this afternoon, and although they had been at it for less than an hour, she could see that Jenny was emotionally spent.

"I wanna get it over with," Jenny countered, still speaking softly. "I really don't know anything…and the more I don't know, the more it scares me….besides, how much more could they really ask of me?"

Keiko smiled gently. The little girl had really grown, she thought. "Okay," she said. "Let's go back."

The officers had switched seats and had been talking while they were gone, but stood as the ladies entered. "Are you all right, Miss Doolittle?" asked Foster.

"I'm fine," she said resolutely, and she and Keiko sat down again, once again holding hands under the table.

Foster began. "We're back on the record at 13:11. I believe the question was, do you know which members of the yacht club could have hacked the Stellar Military's database?"

"I don't know of ANY hackers in the yacht club," Jenny said with certainty. Harris then spoke.

"Do you have any idea who sabotaged your ship, or why?"

"I don't," Jenny replied. "I don't know why anyone would do that to anyone else."

Foster edged in. "Miss Devereaux must not have been too happy about being bumped out of the race in the last year she could compete…especially by some little rich, privileged underclassman."

Keiko squeezed Jenny's hand. "Are you asking a question, Commander Foster?" Keiko demanded.

"Just thinking out loud, Lady Takeda," Foster replied, finally realizing that they were signaling each other under the table. "Still, it's a good working theory for motive."

"My client is no more 'rich' or 'privileged' than anyone else at this school. You're welcome to pursue whatever theories you'd like, but I see no reason to fill this 'witness's' head with a bias against her classmates," Keiko chided. "If we're done here…"

"Just one last thing," Foster added, turning off the recorder. "Miss Doolittle, off the record, have you ever heard the term, Yggdrasil?"

Jenny had heard rumors, but she was steadfastly not going to testify to rumors, even off the record. "Only in old earth mythology…it's the tree that the Norse god Odin hanged himself from, right?"

Foster mused. He could tell she knew something. "Yes, that must be it. Thank you for your time, ladies. You're dismissed for today."

Jenny and Keiko rose together, and departed. Harris turned to Foster. "Yggdrasil? That shadowy conglomerate out of Orion? Are they involved in this?"

Foster waved his hand. "It's only a rumor, but I wanted to see if she knew anything. And I think she does."

Outside, Keiko and Jenny walked toward the transit kiosk, where Maddie was waiting. "Shane's not back yet?" Keiko shook her head, smiling. Maddie smiled back. "Probably having a drink with some bonnie lass in town and forgot all about us….I'm kidding…when I saw you come out, I paged him. He's on his way."

Keiko turned to Jenny. "Do you want us to take you home?"

"No," Jenny replied. "Say, where's Lynn?" she asked, not particularly to either Keiko or Maddie.

"She hurried off to her room to change back into a tomboy," Maddie chuckled.

Jenny turned to Keiko. "Is it okay if I go see her?" Keiko looked over to Maddie, who answered.

"It's fine, lassie. Just don't discuss anything from the investigation. Oh, and her room was bugged to high heaven before I zapped them all, but you never know. Don't assume that no one else is listenin'."

Jenny nodded and headed off to the middle school dorm, as Keiko and Maddie watched her retreating form. "She's just like her father," Maddie observed. Keiko nodded. "That she is. I hope it doesn't get her killed." Maddie nodded back knowingly, as Shane pulled up. "Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies. Just a few loose ends to tie up," He grinned as he got out and opened the door for them. "To the space port, lad!" Maddie intoned, as they got in.

Jenny found Lynn's room and stood outside for a moment. She had tried to prepare some kind of excuse about being in the area, and stopping by, but it just sounded like nonsense. She had to just tell her how she felt. Considering what Miss Holland had said the day before, there might not be many chances for her to see Lynn. She knocked on the door. "Coming!" came a call from within, and as the door opened, "..did you forget something, Maddie….?"

Lynn and Jenny just stood gaping at each other. Lynn was barefoot, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around her body and another one wrapped around her head. "….miss Doolittle…" she stammered.

Jenny pulled her mouth shut, and managed a smile. "It's Jenny, remember? I'm so sorry to drop in on you like this…I wanted to talk to you…may I come in?" And then she simply walked in, not waiting for an answer.

Lynn felt panic. Jenny's photos were all over the wall above her bed, just a few feet away, but Jenny hadn't looked in that direction. Lynn tried to maneuver her away from that wall. "..uh..sure.." Lynn continued to stammer.

"I wanted to stay in these dorms, but my father wouldn't allow it," Jenny started, trying to make conversation. "This is very cozy…" as she looked at the made-up, empty bed. "No room-mate?"

"She's off-world until tomorrow," Lynn finally managed, pulling the towel from her hair. To her horror, though, Jenny then turned and looked at her bed.

"Wow, you have pictures of me…" Jenny offered, sounding flattered. She pointed to one taken in the simulator where she was wide-eyed and gaping in terror. She laughed softly. "I remember that sim. I almost crashed!"

Lynn felt a lump in her throat. She didn't want Jenny to think she was some obsessed fan stalker type. "…yeah, I think you're very photogenic…and I admire you…a lot of us do…"

Jenny turned and could see how flustered she was. "Don't worry, I have pictures of **you** on my wall," she confessed with a broad smile.

Lynn's face reddened. "Are you mocking me…?" she pouted, a hint of ire in her voice.

Jenny suddenly realized how patronizing she had just sounded. "Oh, my God, no, not at all! I really do have pictures of you!" She pulled out her phone. "Look," she pointed, to a mural of Lynn photos, in a directory called 'Lynn'. Lynn stared at Jenny's phone in shock, seeing dozens of photos of herself. Studying, dancing, swimming, even sleeping on a blanket on the quad.

Lynn eyed Jenny suspiciously, trying to control the sagging towel around her body. "Why do you have all these?"

Jenny sat down on Lynn's bed, and pulled her by the hand down with her, and held her hand reverently. "Because I like you. Because I want us to be friends….because…you're so beautiful…"

Lynn wanted to believe her. She also wanted to put some clothes on. Jenny could see she was uneasy. "You should get dressed," Jenny suggested. "You'll catch cold." Lynn relaxed a little. "I'll just turn around," Jenny continued. "..promise I won't peek…" She stood and faced the other bed, pretending to cover her eyes, but her eyes looked off to her right at the full length mirror on the inside of the entry door. Lynn took off her towel and immediately grabbed a pullover sweat shirt and slid into a denim skirt and cotton panties. As she sat on the bed to pull on her leggings, she looked up at Jenny. "I'm decent."

Jenny came back and sat down beside her, as Lynn looked up at the mirror. She looked over at Jenny and smirked. "So did you get a good look?"

Jenny blushed, and did a brief double face-palm. "I'm caught!" She giggled. Lynn shared her laugh. It was the first honest to goodness laugh that she'd had since all the trouble started.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Lynn asked tentatively. Maddie had warned her not to talk to anyone about the investigation. Jenny took Lynn's hand again, but wrapped her other hand around it as well. She looked over at the empty bed. "You and your room-mate…I'm not getting into the middle of anything, am I?"

Lynn shook her head. "It's not like that." Then she realized what Jenny was asking her, and her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "So **that's** what this's about?" She was starting to get flustered again.

Jenny smiled and shook her head. "I've always been very direct with people, but sometimes it rubs them the wrong way…but from afar you've always seemed like the kind of person I could be direct with…someone I could bare my soul to, if I wanted to…am I wrong?"

Lynn grew up on a spaceship, where the only answer was a straight answer. Where the difference between life and death was being direct and honest. Her awkward manners, her straightforward, direct demeanor had certainly put off many of her classmates and even some of her friends. And here in front of her, a kindred spirit, was asking her if it was okay to be direct. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. "…you're not wrong," she choked, forcing back her tears. "…I've wanted so much to get to know you…but I just felt someone like me could never be worthy of – "

Jenny interrupted her. "Don't **ever** put yourself down! And don't ever feel that anyone is better than you, or that you're somehow unworthy of someone! I'm here because I've seen within you something that I admire…something that I adore…we're still just children, so I'm not trying to confess my love for you, or anything like that. I want to get to know you, and be your friend, and learn everything there is to know about Lynn Lambretta…"

Lynn gushed. "With your connections, you could easily find out everything about me."

Jenny shook her head vehemently. "Absolutely not." She squeezed Lynn's hand in both of hers. "This…this is how I want to get to know you. Talking face to face, walking shoulder to shoulder." She paused for a moment, looking deeply into Lynn's eyes. "All that I've ever wanted since I noticed you was to see my reflection in your eyes."

Lynn felt the tears spilling down her cheeks. Jenny let go of her hand and gently brushed the tears away, then put her arms around Lynn's trembling shoulders. Neither spoke, but each reveled in the warm embrace. Lynn had never made a friend such as this. And in the midst of all this turmoil, by some miracle, the girl she wanted most was holding her in her arms. It had to be a dream. Yes, in the morning she would wake up and it will all have been a dream. "…this must be a dream…" she murmured. Jenny gently pushed her back to arm's length, and looked straight into her eyes. "It's not a dream," Jenny whispered. "This is real. My feelings for you are real." She reached around the back of her neck, and undid the catch on her necklace. She then put the necklace with the clover charm around Lynn's neck and fastened it. "My father said that on old Earth, people thought clover was a symbol of good luck. So here's to a new beginning. And when you wake up in the morning, this will prove that it wasn't a dream…"

Lynn blushed. "But your father gave you this…you shouldn't…"

Jenny gently pressed a finger over Lynn's lips. "This gift from my father is precious to me. And so are you. Please accept it."

Lynn nodded. Jenny was good at this. She was direct and honest and confident and not at a loss for words. Lynn could barely speak. But with someone like Jenny at her side, she would learn to speak up and gain confidence. "I accept," she said softly, once again hugging Jenny, this time holding her tightly. Jenny returned the embrace with fervor. "Say, would you like to see where I live? Curfew's not for another three hours."

Lynn's face lit up. "I'd love to! Should I wear something more appropriate?"

Jenny smiled. "I'm the only one that lives there, and as soon as we get there, I'm gonna change out of this monkey suit. And you **always** look great, no matter what you wear…although…I really did like the little girly girl getup you wore this morning…you looked so cute…"

Lynn made a face. "You've **gotta** be kidding. I can't believe I let Maddie talk me into that. But it was kinda fun the way you sort of look like a boy and I looked like a girl…"

Jenny rose, and put on her high heels, which she had slipped out of when she entered. Lynn also tied on a pair of sneakers, and the two left, holding hands.


	8. Chapter 8: Meeting in the Sky

After landing aboard the starship in orbit, Shane, Keiko and Maddie were escorted by a crewman to the captain's conference room. As they entered, the captain, a tall man with a goatee and long red hair, with bangs that hung over his ocean-blue eyes, greeted them, his deep baritone voice filling the room. "Lady Takeda. General MacDougal. Welcome aboard the space pirate ship Bentenmaru!" He offered his hand to both, who each gave him a firm handshake. The captain regarded the young man with them, and walked over to him and gave him a bear hug. Holding him out at arm's length, he looked him over. "You look just like your old man," he intoned. "He was the best helmsman I ever knew. Come what may, he always steered our course true, and always got us home in one piece. He was a great man, and a great friend."

Shane was moved by the captain's words. "Thank you, Captain Kato. I still remember as a little boy, how he spoke reverently of you. I hope that one day I may be worthy of such praise."

"Why don't you visit the bridge?" the captain suggested. "Perhaps your brother will offer you the wheel."

"Yes sir!" Shane bowed formally, and headed for the door.

As he ushered the ladies to their seats, he tapped the comm panel. "Con, this is the captain."

A young woman's voice came from the panel. "Yes Captain?"

"Young master MacDougal is on his way to the bridge. Have him take the helm, and have Kane watch over him."

"Yes sir…" the woman's voice answered tentatively. "Did you want me to join you for the meeting?"

"No, Misa. I'll fill you in on the details later. You have the con." Actually, he had no plans whatsoever to bring his second officer in on the discussion. He had become very protective of her after her lover, his wife, Blaster Ririka had left the ship without a word a few years before. It wasn't until a year or so after she left that he'd heard from a friend of a friend that she had given birth to a precocious blue eyed, red haired girl. Her departure had left Misa spiritually wounded, and all of this that was happening now was just too big to dump on her. Though he never told her, he loved Ririka, and he knew that she loved Misa. He would protect her, no matter what.

He turned to the ladies seated before him. "Thank you for coming. We have a lot to discuss."

On the bridge, Shane looked out across the expanse of the ship's control center. Down at the helm was his older twin brother, Kane. Seated at the weapon control station was his deceased father's best friend, Schnitzer. Schnitzer had survived the shuttle accident all those years ago. Mostly. Enrobed in a cyborg body, he was enormous, yet somehow had retained the grin full of teeth that he had always remembered as a child.

"Shane, take the helm!" intoned the ship's doctor, Misa Grandwood seated at the con. She was Saldanan, but probably from one of the empire's colonies. She didn't have the typical imperial accent or the regal, imperial tone to her voice. One could never tell how old one of them was. She looked very young, buxom and curvaceous, wearing cropped, blond hair with blue highlights, mahogany-brown eyes and typical Saldanan green lips. She wore a peach scarf, and a space-suit compatible quick-breakaway body suit with the lacings along the side of her very fit and nubile frame. Kane stepped aside, and took a seat next to the comm engineer. Engineer Hyakume was a very old, Japanese man close to retirement, who would probably pass his job to his eldest son, as was typical with space pirates. The junior Hyakume was a comm engineer on a smaller pirate ship. Shane stepped up to the wheel, put a hand on it, and looked at Kane, who nodded his confidence.

"Take us out of orbit, Mr. MacDougal! Set your course for a swing around Sand of the Red Star!" Misa called out. "Aye, sir!" Shane responded smartly, not really sure if he should call such a handsome woman 'sir'. He took the wheel, steered a course to break orbit, and fired the engines. The enormous vessel thundered out of planetary orbit and off into the heart of the Tau system.

"Have you read my father's proposal, Captain Kato?" Keiko leaned forward in her seat, folding her hands on the table in front of her.

"I have, my lady," he replied respectfully, leaning back in his oversized chair. Keiko could feel the genuine respect in his voice, and see it in his eyes. It was nothing like the slimy toadying of the Stellar Military officers and school officials on Sea of the Morningstar.

"It's an ambitious plan," he continued. "But I would expect nothing less from such a man as Lord Takeda."

Maddie spoke up. "Can we count on you, Gonzaemon?"

He regarded the two women before him. He had many encounters with General MacDougal over the years, and her younger brother had been his helmsman. She had raised Mac's young sons after the accident. She was family. His friendship with Lord Takeda also spanned many years, and that made Keiko family. To a pirate, family was always first and foremost. He keyed off the data pad in front of them, sat back in his chair and calmly said, "No."

Keiko choked. "…Captain…No…?"

Almost at the same moment, Maddie also sputtered in surprise. "Whadya mean, No?"

He closed his eyes and gave them a moment to compose themselves. "It's too soon," he finally said resolutely, as he opened his eyes again to look at them. "With all due respect to you and your father, Lady Takeda, he wants to spring the trap before the prey has committed itself. If we do that, the enemy will run away and regroup. That will drive them deeper underground, and that makes them more careful and harder to fight. Maddie, you know the drill….and frankly, what all of you are asking me to do, at this stage…it's simply too much to ask of me. I have other obligations that I will not ignore."

Keiko forced herself to stay calm. "Captain, if it's too soon, if now isn't the time…well, we **have** time. We couldn't risk sending this to you via subspace or even a bonded courier…please take a look at this…" and she slid another data pad across the table to him.

Maddie tried to see what was on the display as it slid away from her. "..Is that..?"

"Yes," Keiko replied, knowing the question before she asked. "Yes it is."

Gonzaemon Kato examined the pad closely, swiping each page of data, drawings and specifications. "Impressive," he said thoughtfully. "How well known is this?"

"Right now, it's the best kept secret in the empire," Keiko said proudly. "Pieces of it are being built in various shipyards, but the final assembly will be at the secure shipyard orbiting Saldanus seven. But the keel's barely been laid…she won't be combat ready for a few years, yet…"

"What's she called?" Kato's curiosity was genuinely piqued.

"She doesn't **have** a name, yet. My father wants **you** to name her. And he wants you to command her."

Kato stroked his goatee, looking over the data again. Gravity propulsion. Big guns. Really big guns. Missiles. Lots of missiles. Massive FTL drive. It was a tempting offer. But he knew that the only way it could work would be if Gonzaemon Kato disappeared forever. It would mean the end of the Bentenmaru's Letter of Marque. He sighed deeply. He had been a pirate all his life. He didn't want to let it go. Still, he thought to himself, in a few years, there might just be another option. A little, precocious, blue eyed, red haired option. And Gonzaemon Kato **always** kept his options open. He could fake his death and blame it on food poisoning. Ririka, with her horrible cooking, would probably get the joke, and realize the truth, but he knew that she could handle it, and keep it secret. He looked up at Keiko and Maddie. "You know, one of the greatest navies on old earth during the age of sail held a vast empire, that spanned the globe, with one simple motto: 'Si vis pacem, para bellum'."

"If you desire peace…" Keiko began.

"Prepare for war," Maddie finished, both well versed in Latin.

Kato nodded. "I'll call her the Parabellum," he said finally. "But, I have terms. And they're **not** negotiable. I have promises to keep, and I have **always** kept my word, no matter what."

Maddie jumped in. "If we can help you to fulfill those obligations, if there's anything that we can do, or arrange…"

Kato waved his hand. "No. I made these promises. I have to see them through. I've already lost too many good friends by delegating my obligations. You both knew of Professor Mugen, yes?"

Keiko chimed in. "The hyperspace explorer, right? The one who disappeared?"

Maddie cast her eyes downward sadly. "Aye, I knew him. God rest his soul…" She suddenly looked back up at Gonzaemon. "Are you suggesting it wasn't an accident, then?"

Gonzaemon shrugged. "I don't know. But there's more going on here than just a simple attempt to overthrow the Empire. Whoever they are, they're trying to control, or even obstruct passage through the hyperspace. Think about the ramifications of that. And the situation in the Kingdom of Serenity is almost certainly being orchestrated from Orion."

Keiko and Maddie just looked back in awe and shock. They had not imagined the scope of this conspiracy, and perhaps even Lord Takeda had not, either.

Gonzaemon grinned. He had their attention. He reached over and handed a data pad back to Maddie. "General, sometimes the only real peace is found at the end of an ugly and brutal war. War is coming, ladies. Make no mistake. But it's good to throw the enemy a few curves to see which way he swings. And Doolittle swings like a girl….uh…no offense."

Both ladies chimed in unison "None taken!" as they examined the data, and grins grew across their faces as well.

"See that Doolittle gets that information. The more he has to work at getting it, the more likely he'll believe that it's legit, and it should make him think twice before trying anything too soon. And in the best case, he'll expose more of his hand in all of this."

Keiko raised her hand as something in the data caught her eye. "Theodore Group? As in Senator Coolph?"

"Dunno," Kato replied. "But it's one of three major companies controlling the Yggdrasil Group. I doubt that it's a coincidence."

Maddie gushed. "Gonzaemon, I think I know a way to get this into the right hands, and solve a wee little bit of bother down on the planet…all at the same time."

"I know that look in your eyes, General," Kato said reverently. "I'll leave it to you, then." He turned to the comm panel. "Con, position?"

Misa's voice came back over the speaker. "We'll be back in orbit of Sea of the Morningstar in twenty minutes, Captain."

"Fine," he replied, switching off the comm panel. "Scotch, ladies?"

Keiko and Maddie answered in unison. "Please!"

As he handed them their shot glasses, and poured his own, he stood. "A toast to you, General. You raised Mac's sons to become fine men. But one of my terms will be that Shane disappears for a time. I'd like to have him serve on one of my friends ships, in the rough seas of the outer rim, and develop his piloting skills."

The three downed their drinks, and the captain poured three more.

"I'll arrange it," Maddie promised. She trusted Gonzaemon, and knew that he had a plan in the back of his head. She knew Shane would be proud to be a part of any such plan.

"To the Empire!" they all shouted in unison, and downed their shots.


	9. Chapter 9: Sleepover

After being dropped off by the transport, Jenny and Lynn walked the short distance to Jenny's bungalow. They each took off their shoes as they entered, and Jenny led Lynn into the living room.

Lynn just looked about in awe. "You stay here all by yourself? Don't you get lonely?"

Jenny walked up behind her and gently placed her arms around Lynn's waist, leaning her head against the back of Lynn's head. "Intolerably lonely…" Jenny sighed.

Lynn turned around in her arms, grasping Jenny's hands firmly. "My room-mate is off-world because she and her parents are going back to Sea of the Forest Star, and they're just getting her all registered for next semester…why don't you come live with me?"

"Why don't YOU come live with ME?" Jenny said playfully, as she started touring Lynn around the spacious town home.

"But…would your parents even allow it?" Lynn wondered, as they walked into the bedroom. Above the bed, as sure as Jenny had told her, were pictures of her in various candid moments of life. She felt flattered, and flustered, all at the same time. To think that each of them had felt the same way about the other, and it had taken all of this trouble to bring them together. Such was the ways of fate, she mused to herself, tenderly touching the clover pendant around her neck.

Jenny pulled her over to the bed, and sat down and pulled Lynn down to sit beside her. Her face became serious. "Lynn, I have to confess something to you. I didn't want to say anything at school, but I need to tell you this. I hope that it won't change anything between us."

Lynn could see she was serious, but she knew in her heart that Jenny was the one. Hell, Jenny could tell her that she was really a boy under those clothes, and it probably wouldn't matter. Well, maybe a little bit. "I'm listening," Lynn said sincerely.

"I've been promised to an older man," Jenny started to say, but suddenly tears just started to run down her face and she could barely speak. It always hurt to talk about this, even to think about it. But she wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt to tell someone that she cared for. Her heart ached to think that she might be plucked away from this wonderful school life, and from this beautiful girl.

Lynn pulled Jenny into her arms and held her tightly. "I'd actually heard that rumor," Lynn whispered to her softly. Jenny looked into her eyes, and could see Lynn's genuine empathy. "We'll find a way, I promise," Lynn continued, her roguish tomboy eyes glinting. "Jenny," she whispered lovingly.

Jenny swooned in Lynn's embrace, pressing her head against Lynn's neck. "Lynn…" she whispered back.

Their brief moment of intimacy was interrupted by Jenny's and Lynn's phones both ringing out incoming text message alerts simultaneously.

"They're coming HERE!" they both exclaimed in unison, looking up from their phones, and then again in unison, giggled out, "Jinx!"

"Maybe I should go back to my dorm…" Lynn began, but Jenny wiped her eyes, and still laughing just a little, said, "I think they know that we're both here, together. They're bringing take-out dinner, so lets just all have a meal together."

The doorbell rang. "Wow, that was fast," Lynn said.

"No, it's not them. Keiko wouldn't ring the bell – she'd just let herself in, hoping to catch us in the act…" Jenny grinned.

"…in the act of what?" Lynn was quite innocent, and had never even kissed anyone. Jenny was a bit worldlier, but Lynn's innocence was precious to her. She wanted it to last as long as possible. As she went to answer the door, she just grinned back at Lynn, imagining the day when Lynn would learn "the act".

"Who is it?" Jenny asked over the door intercom, but could see on the small display that it was a Stellar Military officer.

"Stellar Military. I need to speak to Miss Lambretta," the woman answered. "She was seen coming here with you, Miss Doolittle." Jenny recognized her as Lt. Harris, one of the women who interrogated her. The surveillance systems in town were quite pervasive. There was no point in prevaricating. She opened the door, as Lynn approached from behind her.

"Summons for a formal hearing," Lt. Harris said dryly, handing a data pad to Lynn. "Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock sharp, Stellar Alliance Building, New Okohuma City. The details are all in there. If you don't show, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. Good night, girls!" She smiled, and whirled about and strode back to her transport.

Half an hour later, just as Jenny predicted, Keiko let herself and Maddie into the bungalow. Not seeing Lynn and Jenny in the living room, Keiko peeked into the bedroom, where Lynn was reclining against the headboard, and Jenny was fast asleep with her head in Lynn's lap. Lynn looked at Keiko and pressed her finger to her lips, signaling Keiko not to wake her. "She's exhausted," Lynn whispered.

Keiko held up the bags of food, whispering back, "I'll bet she's hungry, too!"

Lynn nodded, and gently woke Jenny. Jenny stirred, and looked up at her. Sitting up, she asked, "…did you sleep, too?"

Lynn shook her head with a smile. "I just wanted to see your cute angel face while you slept…"

Keiko, still standing at the door, was happy to see them so familiar with each other, and called out, "Come on, you two. Let's eat!"

The four knelt around the living room table, said their prayers and began eating. Maddie perused the summons data pad that Lynn had been served with. She chuckled as she read the charges aloud, but Lynn seemed to grow more concerned. "Don't worry, Lassie," Maddie consoled. "They're not getting' away with this claptrap!"

After Maddie had read the "Data Piracy" charge, Jenny realized that it must have been Lynn who had altered the course of the race. Lynn still seemed oblivious to how that choice had almost gotten Jenny killed. She realized that those two seniors must have talked her into it, or bullied her into it, if she knew those two. She wasn't going to ever let Lynn know the consequences of her actions, because she didn't want to have any kind of psychological advantage over her. If Lynn realized, it would fill her with guilt, and she would do anything to make it up to her. Jenny wanted real love from Lynn, not some half baked desire for atonement. "Mrs. MacDougal, your food's going to go cold," she said in a hinting tone. Maddie looked back at her, then at Lynn, and then noticed that Keiko too was giving her non-verbal cues to drop the subject.

"Aye, you're right, Lassie!" she said, turning off the data pad. She turned to Keiko. "We'll discuss it later at my hotel."

Keiko spoke up. "And the two of you can just have a sleepover here tonight. It's past curfew, so you can't go back to the dorm, Lynn. We'll pick you both up in the morning."

Lynn frowned at Maddie. "But aren't you going brief me, and tell me what to say?"

Maddie shook her head as she swallowed some food. "Oh, heavens, no, lass. You should never let anyone tell you what to say. Ye know the truth better than anyone, and ye told it to me when we first met. Just tell it to them tomorrow, just as ye told it to me."

Lynn sat for a moment, her eyes going back and forth between Keiko and Maddie. "It was you, wasn't it?" Lynn said to Keiko. "You hired Maddie to watch over me, right? Why? I don't even know you…"

Keiko eyed Maddie for a moment, and then looked Lynn in the eyes. "It's complicated. All of this is much, much bigger than you realize. Just let us look after you. You really don't need to know the reasons why."

"I just wanted to thank you." Lynn said softly.

Keiko smiled. She truly was worthy of Jenny. She was perfect. "I'll pass it on up."

After they finished eating dinner, Jenny and Lynn cleared the table, and Jenny turned to the group. "Anyone want some gelato for dessert?"

Maddie and Keiko both shook their heads. "No thanks, dearie," Maddie answered for both of them. "Miss Keiko and I have work to do tonight. Why don't you little lassies get some rest? I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a busy day again for both of ye!" With that, Maddie and Keiko each took their valises and departed.

Lynn washed the utensils, while Jenny disposed of the takeout containers. After brushing their teeth and washing their faces, they finally settled again on the oversized bed in the bedroom. Jenny was already wearing a nightshirt from when she changed earlier, and she went over to the chest of drawers and pulled out another one, adorned with a clover, and handed it to Lynn. "I really won't peek this time," Jenny giggled. Lynn grinned and rolled her eyes, as she took off her skirt and top, and then wriggled into the nightie, in full view of Jenny. Jenny just sat and feasted her eyes. "It's just us girls, after all," Lynn saw how Jenny was ogling her, and gently poked her in the center of her forehead with her index finger.

They scooted up on the bed, and cuddled together. "This bed is really comfortable," Lynn observed. "How do you ever want to get out of it in the morning?"

Jenny nodded. "It's some kind of predictive, adaptive micro-foam that they use on long distance space travel and for deep hyperspace dives. It hardens, or softens, swells or shrinks depending on the heat and tension of the muscles in contact with it…it's like getting a micro-massage the whole night. My dad wanted me to get a good night's sleep and be refreshed every day."

Lynn smiled. "You would look beautiful and refreshed if you slept on a rock," she said softly, her tomboy eyes glinting.

Jenny wrapped her arms around Lynn, pulling her on top of her and gently wrapping her legs around Lynn's waist. "I bet you say that to all the girls…" she giggled.

For a long moment, they just looked into each others' eyes. As Lynn moved her lips close to Jenny's, Jenny's lips parted slightly and she closed her eyes. Neither had ever kissed anyone, not like this, anyway. Lynn kissed her tentatively, just letting her lips touch Jenny's, but then Jenny pulled Lynn against her, and pressed her lips against Lynn's. Jenny didn't indulge in any tongue kissing, and Lynn didn't seem to know about such a thing anyway. They basked in the warmth of their new-found love for a time, and fell fast asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
